Councilman Jerell Blakeley announced that he is resigning from his post on the Trenton governing body “effective January 30, 2022, due to my acceptance of an exciting professional leadership opportunity that will necessitate my relocation from Trenton.”
A 2005 Trenton Central High School graduate, an acolyte of ex-Mayor Doug Palmer who never mastered the former chief executive’s art of smooth-talking, and a one-time employee of current Mayor W. Reed Gusciora, Blakeley frequently clashed with colleagues.
Blakeley earned widespread disapproval last year for calling Council President Kathy McBride an “illiterate crackhead prostitute” during a conference call about the coronavirus pandemic.
Blakeley, a former city educator who was first elected in 2018, said in July that he would not run for a second four-year term as a Trenton City Councilman-at-Large, but his announcement suggests that he is also leaving a comfortable six-figure lobbyist job as an associate director of Government Relations for the New Jersey Education Association.
Michael Ranallo, a 54-year-old local government watchdog and homeowner in the city’s Hiltonia section employed by a company that manufactures high-powered lasers, announced that he would seek the citywide Council seat in Trenton’s 2022 municipal election.
Also running for Blakely’s seat is Teska Frisby, whose husband is Sam Frisby, a Mercer County Freeholder whose mother, Jeannine LaRue, is a lobbyist who headed Gusciora’s transition team in 2018.
Blakeley is departing without fulfilling his campaign promises about the creation of an annual fair for youth resources, monthly community forums, and more direct grassroots organizing.
The resignation could be troublesome for his former boss, Gusciora, who has maintained an acrimonious and combative relationship with most Council members.
Gusciora recently criticized Council leaders for pulling two administrative proposals, including one that would allow cannabis businesses to apply for licensure with the state and another to advance development at the Roebling II site.
When the administration was rebuffed by the governing body, Gusciora called the council’s proposed redevelopment ordinance a ‘power grab’ and demanded that they abide by his dictates.
Gusciora intends to seek another term in the year ahead but he is expected to face strong opposition, potentially including one or more current members of the Council.